


Keep in mind

by myotishia



Series: Psyonic [1]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:46:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23839321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myotishia/pseuds/myotishia
Summary: Because I have no self control here's the start of a new story. When telepaths are turning up dead with similar injuries, Jack is reminded of a deal he made a long time ago.
Relationships: Gwen Cooper/Rhys Williams, Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, Owen Harper/Toshiko Sato
Series: Psyonic [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1766956
Comments: 2
Kudos: 62





	1. A snap decision

Torchwood had a register containing the names and addresses of people with telepathic abilities. These people tended to fall into three categories: the ones who understood it and became tarot card readers or bankers, those who couldn’t cope and ended up institutionalised and those who generally pretended they didn’t have any kind of ability at all. The list had contained more and more addresses overseas recently but those left in the local area were monitored to make sure the radiation from the rift wasn’t becoming a problem for them. The three bodies that the police had handed over were all on that list. Bella Marie Ford had been a forty three year old psychic medium, whos body had been found in the middle of a farmers field. Eliott Bently had been sixty three and homeless, often seen raving drunkenly about aliens in the middle of Cardiff city centre. His body had been found on the side of the road, far from his usual haunts. Finally, William Arthur Short had been a thirty six year old insurance representative whose body had been discovered by a dog walker. All three had signs of botched surgery to their spines and marks from some kind of restraints. There were no signs of any kinds of drug in their blood so they hadn’t been given any sedation while they were worked on, and that idea alone had made Owen cringe. 

Gwen had been given a name and an address but not much else. It had been strange that Jack had gone out of his way to insist she took that specific name. They were just asking if any of them had seen or heard anything unusual. It wasn’t heavy questioning or anything. She pressed the buzzer to call up to the second floor flat. 

“Hello?” Said a young sounding voice, slightly crackling over the speaker. 

“Oh hello. I’m looking for Melody? Melody Katherine Archer.”

“That’s me.”

“Right. I’m Gwen Cooper, from Torchwood. I just need to ask you a few questions.”

The door clicked as it was unlocked remotely. “Come in.” 

The agent ascended the stairs of what looked like student accommodation. All posters and echoing halls that had seen too many twenty somethings staggering back home after a badly timed pub crawl. It was almost nostalgic. Almost. 

The heavy fire door dulled the thuds of her knocking but not to the point it couldn’t be heard. This wasn’t the first time she had knocked on one of the thicker doors, often found in tower blocks, and if she was honest she could have attended this exact block but she didn’t fully remember. 

The door clunked as a lock was disengaged and a woman with dark blond hair answered. 

“Hello. I’m Gwen. Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?”

“No. I don’t mind. Come in. Sorry about the mess. My roommate always says she’ll tidy up in the morning but she never does.” She beckoned as she gathered up the blankets and mugs that had been left all over the living room. 

The flat was small and sparsely decorated with mismatched furniture.

“Have you been here long?” Asked Gwen, making small talk to hopefully make this woman feel a little more at ease. 

“Only a few months. It was all I could afford.” She placed the mugs in the sink and folded the blankets next to the washing machine. “Anyway, how can I help?”

“Well, we just wanted to know if you’d seen or heard anything unusual recently?”

“Not that I’ve seen or heard.”

“No lights in the sky or strange people creeping around?”

“Other than the lads from down the hall, no. Should I be worried?”

“No. No, we’re just being cautious.”

Melody shook her head. “Gwen, I’m a telepath and when you lie you scream in your head. It’s pretty much impossible for me to block out.” 

“I wasn’t…” She blushed lightly. “I didn’t want to frighten you. We’ve found three people with abilities similar to yours.”

“That makes more sense. I didn’t mean to invade your thoughts, sorry. It was just really loud.”

“It’s ok. I was told about your ability, so I should have been more careful.” She took a card from her pocket and wrote down a number. “Here, if you see or hear anything you think might be important you can call or text me directly.”

Melody took the card and smiled softly. “Thanks… Um… I’m just curious… Is there a man who works with you that has an American accent? Tall guy… He wore a long blue grey coat. He might have moved on by now or worked for another branch or something.”

“Yes. I think I know who you mean. Why?”

“It’s nothing. He’s just the only Torchwood agent I remember from when I first met them… I never got to thank him for saving my life. I doubt he remembers me after so long, but can you thank him for me?” She unconsciously placed a hand on her ribs as if remembering an old injury. 

Suddenly Jacks insistence on Gwen meeting this woman made a little more sense. “Of course I will. How long ago has it been?”

“Oh I was just a little kid. Around four or five. The whole memory’s a bit hazy, but I remember him carrying me into the hospital.”

“I don’t think I could remember anything from when I was that young.”

The sound of the front door clicking open made them both jump.

“I’m back. Did you tidy up already? I told you I- Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you had company.” Said the woman who’d barged in, dropping her bag next to the door. 

Melody glanced up. “It’s ok. This is PC Cooper. She was just asking about any disturbances around the building.”

“Other than Jimmy from number six coming home plastered the other night, I can’t think of anything.”

Gwen stood and put her work face back on. “Well then, I won’t take up any more of your time. Thank you again, Miss Archer.”

Jack ran his hand over his face as he placed the phone down. Just checking on one of the list had taken over an hour and he had three more to go. Ianto cleared his throat from the doorway.

“Please tell me you have some good news.” The captain smirked softly, knowing that wouldn’t be the case.

“Another body’s been found.”

“Same as the others?”

“Pretty much. He was on the telepath register too.”

“Great. What do you mean pretty much?”

“The others died from their spinal injuries, but were otherwise relatively uninjured. This one had both of his shoulders dislocated, according to the officer that was called to the scene.” 

“Is the body on its way?”

“Owen’s gone to collect it.”

“Do you know how hard it is to sneak up on a telepath?”

“Extremely, I’d suspect.”

“The bodies had no defensive wounds. None of them managed to fight back until they were already tied down. There were no reports of a commotion around where they went missing. It’s like they just walked to wherever they were killed willingly.”

“A signal only telepaths can pick up on maybe?”

“A sirens song… Our sensors should have picked it up, but there’s a chance of it being missed if it was on a small scale. I’ll ask Tosh about it.”

“You seem more on edge than usual.”

Jack sighed. “Telepathy can be dangerous.” His mind travelled back to that night. The small bundle of blood and sheets strapped into the passenger seat as he wove through traffic to reach the hospital. 

“It’ll be ok. Just hang on a bit longer.” He hoped she wouldn’t drift away before he could get help. He skidded in front of the hospital entrance and hopped out, rushing to gather the small body up. She blinked her big grey eyes, heavy and unfocused, as he carried her through the door. 

A nurse jumped up from her station. “What’s happened?”

“Her name’s Melody. She’s four and she was attacked ten minutes ago. They stabbed her.” He explained as quickly as he could, his heart in his throat. 

“Bring her through. Are you her dad?”

“No. I’m… From Torchwood. Her parents are on their way.”

She took the child from his arms but Melody kept watching him. Her little blood stained hand reaching out to weakly grab onto his sleeve. He felt the tug at his mind before his arm. Before he could react, the doctors rushed the little girl away. He walked to the nearest payphone and dialled a familiar number.

“Alex-”

The slightly gruff and more than a little annoyed voice on the other end interrupted. “Jack if this isn’t important I-”

“I found it… It’s dead but…”

“Right… That’s good. Harkness, what’s going on? You sound like someone just died.”

“It attacked a kid. I’m in A and E with her.”

“How bad?”

“I don’t know if she’ll make it, but if she does we have a new issue.”

“Right…”

“She’s a telepath.”

“How old is this kid?”

“Four.”

“What?! That’s not possible. The human brain isn’t developed enough at that age to even hold on to memories, let alone develop psychic abilities.”

“Well she just tried to reach into my head. If Torchwood one hears about this before you can take this case on-”

“Christ! Ok, I’ll send someone to you. Just stay where you are. I’ll send a clean up crew to deal with the scene as well.”

“Alex?”

“Yes?”

“That thing… It… I…”

The gruff mans voice softened. “Please just stay until I get there. I’m sorry I sent you out alone, but I didn’t know it was this dangerous. My contact never said…”

“What’s your contacts name?”

“Don’t even think about it.”

“If I’d known, maybe I could have stopped this!”

“Just take a few hours to cool off before you do anything. If any Torchwood one agents get there before us, I’m going to need you to run interference. Go and wash the day off your hands and clear your head.”

“Yea… Just… Yea.” He hung up and slumped into one of the chairs in the hallway, staring at the dried blood on his hands. 

Owen shook his head, finalising his report on the newest victim. Matthew James Jenkins, forty three, technically died from the effects of a stress induced heart attack. The years of smoking and drinking hadn’t helped him. At first Owen had thought that the man had dislocated his own arms in his desperation to escape but on further investigation it became clear that hadn’t been the cause. It was as if the bones themselves had been pulled apart and twisted slightly without any force applied to the soft tissues of the arm. He wasn’t sure how it was done but he could guess why. He’d paid particular attention to the damage to the mans spine. The first bodies spine had been completely destroyed. The second had most of the vertebrae intact, bar holes gouged into the bone and cracks spreading out from them. The third had the same holes bored into the bone but without so many cracks. Each had scrapes as if whatever had made the holes had roughly been removed. The newest body had similar damage except the damage to the spinal cord itself seemed to have been done post mortem as whatever had been implanted was removed. Inside one of the largest holes, found in the eighth and tenth thoracic vertebrae, Owen had discovered a piece of metal. It looked like it had broken off, likely because it had been used more than once. Whatever these aliens had tried to install had been used and removed after it didn’t work, so it could be used again. It was a clue, so it was better than nothing. His computer notified him that it recognised the composition of the metal. It was mostly found in the structure of Tengarien bio-ships. A sudden idea swirled in his head. 

“Hey Tosh.” He began.

She glanced over at him. “Yes?”

“What do you know about Tengarien bio-ships?”

“A little. Why?”

“If the computer inside one of them died, could it be replaced with a human?”

“That would be incredibly difficult but theoretically it could as a temporary measure. That said the human would have to give full control over to the pilot.”

“They’d have to be broken down. Full ego death.”

“Yes.” She frowned at the idea alone. Theoretical or not. “But the human subject would also have to be an accomplished telepath to even begin communicating with the rest of the ship… Oh… You don’t think…”

“What other tech would a Tengarien ship have?” 

“They would have advanced teleportation technology. The only way onto a bio-ship is to cut through the hull or use one of their teleporters. They sometimes use sonic weaponry but they usually rely on their telekinesis in combat situations.”

“They’re the ones who can spray that sedative from their eyes, right?”

“I believe so, yes. I’ll start scanning for teleportation signals.” 

Gwen smiled softly as she peeked into Jacks office. He looked more serious than usual, but at least she could give him some good news.

“I’m back. So sign of anything unusual around Melody.” She said, wandering in.

He glanced up and relaxed a little. “Good. I was worried when she moved here.”

“About that, she said to thank you for saving her life. She didn’t remember your name but her description was spot on. I was surprised she was so aware of Torchwood.” 

“Wait, what do you mean she remembered me?”

“She described you like she’d seen you on the street only a few days ago.” She suddenly felt as if she’d somehow leaked a huge secret. 

He rubbed his temples. “Damn it. If she remembers that…”

“Jack?”

“Huh? Nothing. Thanks Gwen.” 

She wasn’t going to let him brush past it so easily. “So, how did she know about Torchwood. I mean it’s been seventeen years sooo.” 

“Torchwood’s been keeping a close eye on her over the years.”

“Oh yes?” She sat across from him casually. “Are we still keeping an eye on her?”

“Once in a while. We have to check on all of those on the telepath register. Usually one of the medics goes and just makes sure nothing’s gotten worse. It was more difficult with her because of her age.” 

“She’s the youngest on that list, isn’t she?”

“Most people don’t develop any telepathic ability until they’re at least in their teens. If they even notice.”

“And they’re human?”

“Completely. Every person has the potential. Most people never learn how to access it and after around thirty, if you haven't then it’s closed off. Like a muscle that atrophies because it’s never used. Some are naturally better than others. I mean you all did a basic psychic test when you got here.”

“How did I do on that? You never said anything.”

He chuckled. “It was strange but not alarming.”

“So, Melody was a psychic at a young age?”

“Gwen…”

“I’m just curious.”

“Yes, she was. If her case hadn’t happened we might never have known. Torchwood one wanted to take her but we got there first. Anyway, I think Owen and Tosh have a lead. Can you help them while I finish up this list?”

Waiting in the hospital had been more stressful than Jack would have liked. He’d expected this case to be simple: track down an alien on the run, bring it back to Cardiff, go and get a drink with the team, find someone cute to spend the night with. That should have been it. Instead he’d had to talk to the police and convince them he actually was from Torchwood and send messages back to the team about the scene, and what needed to be done. The nurse that had carried Melody off finally returned.

“Is she going to be ok?” He asked, standing.

She nodded. “She had a collapsed lung and she’d lost a lot of blood but she’s stablised now. The doctor wants to know if there are any tests that need to be done as this is an assault case. I’m sorry to ask but …”

“No. I understand. As far as I know there aren’t any other tests that we’ll need.”

She looked relieved and smiled. “You said her parents were on their way?”

“The police needed to talk to them. They’ll be here as soon as they can.”

“Could you tell me as soon as they do?”

“Sure.” 

She nodded a thank you and headed back the way she came. 

“Jack. Are they here yet?” A familiar gruff voice asked. 

He smiled and turned. “No. You’re the first person I’ve seen and I’ve never been happier about that.”

“Keep it to yourself Harkness. So you said this kid is psychic?” Alex said more than asked.

“She reached into my mind as they took her away.”

“Are you sure it was her?”

“I’m certain.”

“I can hear the branch one higher ups rubbing their hands together with glee already.”

“What do you think they’ll do to her?”

“Probably take her and mould her into their perfect little agent. I don’t know if I can stop them. She’d technically fall under their jurisdiction.”

“It’s not like you to give up.”

“I never said I was giving up. We just have to be careful.” He waved over two medics and pointed them towards where the nurse had gone. “Right now she’s too fragile to move I’m guessing.”

“She’s stable.”

“Good. If you want to get going now you can.”

He nodded and walked towards the exit. The sun was already rising and the dawn air was refreshing. He needed to clear the night out of his mind, after all it was out of his hands. He sat in his abandoned car under the annoyed gaze of a sleep deprived paramedic and started the engine. Half way out of the carpark he glanced at the blood stained passenger seat. He didn’t want to think about what her life would be if Torchwood one got hold of her. The idea of her only knowing cold white rooms and constant tests made him shudder. No, he needed to know she’d be ok. He parked properly and marched back into the hospital. 

Gwen jumped as her phone rang. She’d been dreaming so pulling herself back to reality was an unpleasant experience. Rhys mumbled in his sleep and rolled over next to her. The number that flashed on her screen was new. 

“Hello?” She asked groggily.

A small, frightened, whisper drifted from the speaker. “Gwen? Sorry for calling but… I think something just got into my flat.”

“Melody? Ok, right, is there anywhere you can hide? Somewhere with a door you can lock?” 

“I’m in my room. There’s nowhere to go.”

“Can you hide under the bed, or in the wardrobe?” She asked, her phone pressed between her ear and shoulder as she wrestled on her jeans. 

“I’m in the wardrobe… I’m going to hide my phone in my dressing gown so if I go missing you can track it.”

“Melody, it’s going to be ok. I’m on my way. Just stay as quiet as you can.”

There was a long pause before the sound of a door opening could be heard, followed by the hidden womans frightened gasps. The call dropped. 

“Shit!” Gwen hissed, calling Jack as she pulled on her coat. “Jack, they got Melody. She has her phone to try and track her with.” 

Tosh stared at the scanner in her hand as the team made their way through the wooded area. The phone had given them a general area before it either died or was destroyed. It was enough to start with. 

“This way. There seems to be something buried beneath this area. It’s metal so it’s either the ship or a bunker of some kind.” She stated, her voice carrying through the still darkness. 

Gwen looked around by the harsh light of her torch. “Any sign of a way to get in?”

“None, sorry. If we could get hold of one of their devices we could teleport but without it or some heavy machinery …” She trailed off. “Wait… There might be one way. It looks like the tree roots have made their way through the hull over time… The worst damage seems to be this way.”

Ianto dropped the sledge hammer to his side, pretty sure he wouldn’t even be getting close enough to the hull to use it without a digger. Not that you could get one through the trees. Movement from behind him pulled his full attention. He turned and shone his torch into the darkness. A blue skinned being put its hands up.

“Please, don’t shoot. I mean no harm.” It stuttered, its second eyelid closing to block out some of the light. “I can get you into the ship.”

“How and why?”

“I understand your hesitation, but I took no part in the horrid things my crew has done. I am what you would call an anthropologist. I was part of this voyage to study the native inhabitants of planets, not torture them.”

Jack took a step forward, studying the alien carefully. “So, how are you going to get us onto the ship?”

“You can have my teleportation unit. It can only transport one but once on the ship you can gather others. I do not know who it will work for as it is calibrated to myself but you are welcome to it to save your tribe member.” It held out the small silver device. “If you are compatible it will illuminate. It is set to take you to my private quarters and if activated again it will bring you here.”

“What do you want in return?”

“My freedom. I will find my own way off planet. Our ship crashed here while we were all in stasis. We have been here for hundreds of cycles. Our families are long dead, but I still have my studies. I still have my gathered knowledge of races spanning galaxies. I must at least try and preserve it.”

“If you stay here until we’ve rescued Melody I’ll help you find a safe way off the planet.”

“You will? After everything that my crew have done? Then I will wait. Thank you human. Now, you haven’t much time before the others discover my treachery.”

Jack looked at the device in his hand, inactive. He handed it to Owen, nothing. Gwen, nothing. Tosh, still nothing. Finally Ianto took it and it illuminated a bright aqua blue. 

“Think you can do this?” The captain asked.

Ianto nodded. “I just need to find the other teleporters and bring them back here.”

“If you get captured-”

“I won’t.” He steeled himself against what he’d have to do and gripped tightly onto the device in his hand. “I’ll be as fast as I can.”

Alex Hopkins rolled his eyes as the Torchwood one representative spoke of how they were much better equipped to take care of a young telepath than he was.

“And that’s why she’s staying with her parents.”

The representative, a tall and wiry man in a suit more expensive than the whole room they were stood in, sighed. “That would be irresponsible. Do you understand what an asset she could be with the correct training?”

“She’s a human being, not a dog. She’s been through enough.”

“And what if she hurts someone?”

“We’ll monitor her. We’re just not taking her away from her family.”

“It would be in everyones best interests to tell her parents that her injuries were fatal and allow us to raise her correctly. We are only negotiating with you out of courtesy. If we must we will take her.” 

“Like hell you will!”

“She is under our jurisdiction!”

“Not to interrupt your argument but she isn’t.” Jack said as he swept into the small waiting room. “She was born just within the Welsh border.” He held up a copy of her birth certificate. 

The representative glared. “Captain Harkness. I wasn’t made aware that you’d be attending this impromptu meeting.”

“I was the one who drove her here, so yea, I’m attending.”

“Ah, then you claim control of this case. Even you have to realise she would be better in our care.”

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“Not gonna happen.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. She-”

“Is human. As soon as she turns eighteen you can try and recruit her but until then, back off.”

The lanky mans face turned from fury to a self satisfied smirk. “Alright then Captain Harkness. Then we will officially leave her guardianship to you.”

“See, was that so hard?” Asked Alex.

“Oh no. Not Torchwood three. Her guardianship will be in Captain Harkness’ hands and his hands alone. He will be fully responsible for not only her safety, but the safety of those around her. If she is harmed or loses control of her abilities, he will be held fully responsible. Now, would you like to reconsider your position, Captain?”

Alex moved to speak but Jack held out his hand. 

“Fine. I’ll take responsibility for her. Until she’s eighteen, you stay the hell away from her.” Jack said firmly, his gaze steady and cold. 

The representative stuttered. “I … Well… Right… I’ll report this to my superiors.” He huffed and marched out, slamming the door behind him.

“Jack, are you serious?” Alex asked. 

“Anything to stop them getting their hands on her.”

“So, you’ll just let us take care of her then?”

“You can check on her while I’m away but…”

“You just realised what you’ve done, haven’t you.”

“It’s not like I adopted her.”

“That’s the way they’ll see it. Congrats Jack.”

“Just go and check on your team. I need five minutes.”

Alex stood and chuckled to himself. “Need a strong drink?”

“Yes!” 

  
  



	2. Rescue

Ianto felt the air pressure around him stabilise as he found his feet in the small room he’d been told about. The whole place had a smell similar to rust and it was cold. Colder than it had been up above. 

He tapped his earpiece. “I’m here. Where are the rest of the teleporters?”

There was a long pause as Jack relayed the question to their alien aid. “There’s a screen on the far wall, next to the roots.”

“I see it.”

“Just tap it.”

The screen flickered to life. “There are four options.”

“Third one down is a map.”

“Got it.”

“You’ll have to go the long way around. The direct path is flooded. There should be a maintenance hatch on the left side of the map that can take you down a floor. The med bay is down there so keep an eye out for Melody. Maybe we can get her out before they try and install the spinal implant.” 

Ianto could feel the anxiety in Jacks words, even though he’d kept his voice perfectly steady. He memorised the map and made his way out into the hallway. It was quiet, thankfully. The dimly lit corridor echoed his footsteps so he decided that stealth wasn’t going to be viable. He made a sprint to the maintenance hatch, pulling off the front panel. There was no ladder. Telekinesis. Of course there was no ladder. He carefully lowered himself and kicked his legs to catch the side of the hatch one floor below. He really didn’t want to fall all four floors. His feet hit the edge of the hatch and he grabbed for the frame, pulling himself through before he fell. A brighter light could be seen to his right and a soft sobbing drifted through the air. He snuck towards the lit doorway, seeing a guard standing just around the other side. He took a two pence coin from his pocket and flicked it towards the back wall. The guard stepped into the hallway and crouched to examine the piece of metal. Taking the moment, shocked it actually worked, he brought his fist down on the back of the guards head. A clean knock out. 

The medical room was sectioned off. On the right was an operating theatre. To the left there was a ward but a section had been cleared and cordoned off. He pulled a divider back to see a figure, curled into a ball, on the floor. 

“Please…. No more…” She sobbed, clutching her badly dislocated arm. 

He took a knee and spoke softly. “Melody? I’m here to help.”

She turned her head. “Who sent you?”

“Torchwood. Can you walk?”

“If you can get this off my ankle.” She pointed to the shackle that was wired to the wall. 

He nodded and looked back to the operating theatre. He just needed to find something sharp. He pulled open draw after draw until he found something he could recognise. Back at Melodys side he tapped his earpiece. 

“I found her. Her left arm looks dislocated at the elbow and shoulder… They’ve already installed the spinal implants.” He said softly as he cut away the tether. 

Owen replied. “How bad? Can she feel her legs?”

“Her arm looks very bad. Can you feel your legs?... She’s nodding.” He slipped off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders, careful not to put any pressure on her arm. 

“Do you think you can get to the teleporters. She really shouldn’t move.”

“I’ll try. What if I can’t?”

“Just find a way to get you both out of there. I’ll prepare for the worst up here.” 

“Right.” He looked around. “Melody, I’m going to find the other teleportation devices. I’ll be right back.”

She grabbed his arm, desperation in her tired eyes. “Please don’t leave me here alone. I won’t hold you back.”

“That’s not… Moving could cause permanent damage.”

“It’s not going to get any worse than it already is. I can help you. Please.” She begged. 

He wished she wasn’t in such a state but he couldn’t bring himself to leave her behind. “Ok. We’ll go slow. Just hold on to me, yea?” 

She nodded and let him help her up. She was a little shaky but not too unstable. 

“I don’t know how we’re going to get up to the next floor.”

“There’s a ramp this way. Their telekinesis doesn’t work if they’re hurt.” She seemed out of breath already. “You never told me… Your name.”

“I’m Ianto.”

“Thank you for risking your life to save me Ianto.”

“It’s part of my job. Torchwood saves people.”

“This’ll be the second time.”

“Jack’s been a little nervous after hearing you remember him.”

“Jack… Yea, that was his name… I pretended I didn’t remember what happened because it made everyone around me worry… Not that my councillor believed me.”

“Weren’t they Torchwood sanctioned?”

“They were but they thought I was too young to understand… That’s the thing when you can hear thoughts. You always know how people judge you.” She stumbled and whimpered as she caught herself. 

He carefully lifted her into his arms. “I’ve got you.”

“Sorry. I must be heavy.”

“You’re five foot nothing. You’re not going to be that heavy. Anyway, I usually wrestle grumpy weevils.”

“And Jack.” She chuckled weakly. “Sorry. Your mind kind of… Yea.”

He blushed lightly and kept walking. 

“The teleporter storage should be up ahead. There are three minds heading towards it.”

“Can we avoid them?”

“Not without going all the way back. If you leave me here you could escape. I’ll keep them busy.”

“Not a chance. I’m not abandoning you.”

“I might be able to mess with their telekinesis but you’re going to have to run and… It’s going to hurt so just ignore me if I start screaming.” 

“I’ll still need to find a teleporter that resonates with you. Unless we take them all.”

“Let’s take them all. Then they can’t hurt anyone else.”

“Sounds like a plan. Are you sure you’re ready?” 

She nodded then looked towards the end of the hallway. “As I’ll ever be.” 

The blue skinned beings didn’t know what had hit them as Ianto charged towards them. They attempted to throw him back but found their repulsive effect dulled to nothing. By the time they had compensated they were thrown down by the mans tackle. He skidded into the teleportation device storage and sat Melody on the table in the centre. He grabbed them one by one and stuffed them into his pockets. The crew hadn’t been huge so it didn’t take long. Turning back to her he realised just how weak she looked. She was shivering and lent heavily on her good arm. He could hear others running towards them. 

“Melody. We have to go. I’m hoping that because I’m carrying all of the teleporters that one of them will activate for you. If not I’ll be right back with the whole team, ok?” 

She looked up into his eyes. “Thank you Ianto.”

He nodded and took her undamaged hand before activating the teleporter. 

Owen was worried about how long it was taking for Ianto to get in touch with them again. He hated knowing there was nothing he could do. Everyone felt the same as they sat and waited. A sudden electricity filled the air and two figures appeared. Jack was immediately at their side for support. 

“You did it.” The captain grinned. 

“We got the rest of the teleportation devices too. They can’t follow.” 

“Let them stay down there.”

Owen knelt in front of Melody, trying not to blind her with the torchlight. “Right, before we move you any more, how about we give you some painkillers, eh?” 

“Yes please.” She whimpered.

“See, no one else is that polite to me.” He was trying to lighten her mood and put her at ease. He knew setting her arm wasn’t going to be easy and she was more than likely in shock. Three doses of Torchwood brand painkillers and an anti-inflammatory for her arm made moving her a lot more viable. “We’ll take you back to the hub before we set your arm and run a few tests, ok?”

“Can I sleep on the way?”

“Sorry, you’ve got to be awake for a bit longer, but you can rest. Let us do all the moving.”

Watching Owen work when someone was injured always made Tosh smile. For all his gruffness and sharp words when someone was really hurt, really needed him, he was very gentle. It was a side of him they didn’t get to see often as people who came into contact with Torchwood were usually already dead. She’d volunteered to hold Melodys good hand while she had her shoulder reset. Iantos jacket was folded neatly on a table next to her along with a loose t shirt for Melody to wear, as her pyjama top was barely holding on to her after the back had been sliced open. Gwen had gone to search Meldoys flat for anything she might need for a short stay, just in case the implant removal would take a while. 

Melody winced as her shoulder popped back into place.

“Did that hurt?” Asked Tosh with concern.

“No. Just sounded really nasty.”

“That usually means it worked.” She smiled and squeezed the womans hand reassuringly.

Owen ran the handheld scanner over her shoulder. “Yep. Back where it should be. You can carefully change your top if you want to but don’t move it too much until we have it strapped up. Can you move your fingers?”

Mel flexed the fingers of her left hand.

“See? You’ll be back to normal in no time. Tosh, would you mind helping her while I take this report up to Jack?”

Something was wrong. Owen wasn’t the type to run off part way through any procedure. Tosh kept her poker face and nodded. He bounded up the steps two by two and was gone. 

Jack had been talking to Ianto about what had happened when Owen swept into his office.

“Can I have a word?” The doctor asked. 

Jack looked up. “Go ahead.”

“Somewhere she won’t overhear.” He said as quietly as he could. 

The captains face fell. Of course it was too much to hope for that everything would be fine. “Be right back.” He nodded to Ianto.

Ianto frowned and looked to Owen. “Wait… Was it something I did? She was too scared to be alone. I had to carry her.” 

“No. You did what you had to and it didn’t make anything worse. It’s something else.” Owen clarified before he followed Jack out and towards the meeting room. There they wouldn’t be overheard. Owen brought a scan up on one of the screens. “This is her spine.”

Jack studied the mass of metal drilled through her vertebrae and reaching up to her skull. 

“They implanted the control system connector like they intended. It’s technically perfect. No extra pressure on the spinal cord. No damage beyond what was intended. She won’t even have a scar where they opened the skin.”

“But…”

“But it can’t be removed without killing her. Even if I could remove it her spine would be like swiss cheese.”

“What will it do to her if it’s left there?”

“Nothing. It’s not connected to a ship so it’s just like an empty USB port. It’s not going to be easy to hide though and I’m going to have to check on it until it fully heals just in case her body rejects it or an infection develops.”

“She always was an alien magnet.”

“That’s another thing, why are her medical records redacted?”

“It was for her own protection.”

“Well, can I have access to them?”

“The paper versions were destroyed but Tosh might be able to recover the digital version.”

Owen studied Jack carefully. “Is there anything I should know about? I’m not looking for gossip here.”

“I know. Other than the punctured lung that fully healed, anything else she was prescribed at the time will have left her system a long time ago.”

“Why are you being so evasive about this?!” He couldn’t help losing his temper. Jack could sometimes be the most infuriating person to deal with. 

“Because no one should have to remember it!”

Owen pulled out a chair and sat, tossing the clipboard he’d been carrying onto the table. “If nothing leaves this room will you tell me what happened?”

“I…” He pulled out his own chair and sat. “Fine. It was the early nineties when I was still an independent contractor. I was asked to track down and capture a fugitive who was known to be hiding out on Earth. They didn’t give me much to work on but that wasn’t unusual. I thought… I thought it was a small time thing. Like some smuggler or drug dealer. Then the first body turned up. She was sixteen. Found in the street with holes between each of her ribs, left to bleed out. In the coroner's office was chaos. When they started the autopsy they found… Each of the holes was an injection site for this things young. They crawled out when they felt like they were under attack. They were under developed but it was a bitch to clean up. That night I went hunting for this thing. I’d heard it had been spotted near the local primary school. It was past midnight when I drove past the houses and saw the front door of her house left open. I walked in and found her parents out cold but alive, unharmed. I walked up the creakiest stairs I ever had to climb and her bedroom door was open. It was hunched over her and I just… I shot it in the head but… She was just lying there. This tiny little four year old, covered in blood. I grabbed the sheet that had been thrown off the bed to wrap her in.” He could barely hold back the tears as he remembered the scene as if he’d just seen it. “She wasn’t even crying. I couldn’t even wait to call it in. I was alone and this kid was dying in her own god damn bedroom because I’d taken too long. I can still remember the room. The curtains were open. She had this pink striped wallpaper and the light didn’t have a shade. I.. The hole in her chest… I could see the thing it had left behind and the only way I could even try and save her was to remove it before taking her to the hospital. She didn’t even scream when it was dug out.”

Owen stared at his friend. “Christ Jack, I’m sorry.”

“At the hospital the Torchwood medical team that turned up later gave her a cocktail of… A lot. It was just a lot to kill off anything that was left. She wouldn’t drink it. Can’t blame her, but the medics weren’t exactly gentle. She was the youngest telepath they’d ever discovered so she needed preserving whether she wanted to comply or not. Alex went ballistic when he heard. Torchwood one wanted to take her but I couldn’t let them. They made me a deal. I’m sure they thought I’d say no and they could just do what they wanted. If I was her guardian, personally, then they’d leave her to live her life normally until she was eighteen then she could decide if she wanted to be recruited or not. If her telepathy caused problems that was on me. I agreed.”

“That’s why you didn’t want her to remember you. Why you stayed out of sight to her on the way here.”

“That and I don’t want to have to explain why I haven’t aged.” He rubbed his hands over his face and lent heavily on the table.

“So, what now?”

“She already remembers me… I should talk to her. If you’re going to have to check up on her, I can’t avoid her.” 

“Should I break the news to her or do you want to? I didn’t tell you about the damage to her arm.”

He glanced up. “It gets worse?”

“Not to that extent. There’s some mild nerve damage. It might cause some weakness in her fingers and occasional numbness or tingling. Not huge but with everything else…”

“Got it. I’ll be down in a while I just…”

“Take as long as you need.”

Gwen placed a few changes of clothes into a backpack for Melody as she heard someone enter the flat. The roommate. 

“Hello.” She called, not wanting to surprise the woman too much. 

Jess looked at Gwen in confusion. “PC Cooper? Where’s Mel?”

“There’s been an incident and she’s getting medical attention.”

“Oh god, what happened? Is she going to be ok? I know she was a bit nervous about being left here alone last night, but I thought she was just a bit shaken by your visit earlier. Is it safe here?”

“The one who attacked her is in custody. You’re perfectly safe. I’m just here to gather a few of her things for her.”

The woman slumped down into the sofa. “Can I visit her?”

“Not yet. She’ll be ok but there's a process we have to go through.”

“You want to know what’s silly?”

“What?” She smiled softly, perching on the edge of the sofa with her.

“I thought she was just trying to cover having a new girlfriend at first. She moved here after a bad break up so I thought she was just a bit embarrassed. She’s shy, you know? Always in her room playing her guitar or drawing. She’s the only one in the whole building who isn’t a student and I thought it made her feel like a bit of an outsider. I bet she hates me for just leaving her.”

“No, no, I’m sure she doesn’t hate you.”

Jess snuffled and wiped her eyes. “Can you tell her I’m sorry?”

“You don’t need to be, but I’ll tell her. Is there anything you think would make her more comfortable while she’s recovering. I just grabbed what I could.” 

“Yea. There are a few things I know she likes to wear.” 

“Sorry for being a bother.” Melody said as she lay down on her right side, having gotten changed. 

“It’s not a bother at all. I’m surprised you weren’t already part of Torchwood with how much you know and your skills.”

“Torchwood one tried to recruit me on my eighteenth birthday, but it would have meant moving and I had a partner at the time so I didn’t want to go… With what happened I suppose it was for the best. I’m hardly Torchwood material anyway.”

“I wouldn’t say that. You’ve been holding yourself together really well under the circumstances. And it’s amazing that you can hear peoples thoughts without alien technology. No one could ever lie to you.”

“Well, they can. I try not to listen to peoples thoughts all the time. It makes them paranoid and there are things I really don’t want to know about people. It makes looking people in the eye really hard.”

Tosh sat on the chair next to the bed. “We had a pendant that could let you hear others thoughts. It was… Overwhelming.” 

“Yea. People have intrusive thoughts, things they’d never say or do, and it’s hard to seperate that from their true feelings.”

“Do you have other abilities that would be considered psychic?”

“I have dreams that are glimpses of the future sometimes but they’re usually pretty boring. And if I really concentrate I can disrupt other people with psychic abilities. That’s about it.”

“That’s amazing.”

“It is? I haven’t really thought about it. I always thought it would be cooler if I could move things with my mind.”

“I think we all wish we could have different skills sometimes.”

“Thanks for keeping me company. You must have so many important things to get to.” 

She chuckled warmly. “My work day hasn’t even started yet.”

“Oh, yea. I lost track of time. Have we even passed sunrise yet?”

“Just.” She said, looking at her watch. Movement made her turn, expecting Owen to have returned but Jack stood in the doorway. “Oh, hello.”

He looked uncomfortable for a moment before putting his calming smile back on. “Hey Tosh, mind if I have a chat with her? I think Ianto’s planning on getting breakfast if you want some.” 

“Sure. Do you want anything Melody?”

Mel shook her head. “I’m ok, thanks.”

“Ok. Try and rest.” She gave a small wave and walked out, Jack watching her go before he made his way down. 

Melody immediately felt a wave of recognition as he sat where Tosh had been. “You… You’re the same. All these years.”

“Yea, that’s me. I didn’t think you’d remember.”

“You didn’t want me to remember.”

“Is it that obvious?”

She laughed softly. “Kind of… So, are you human? No offence.”

“None taken. Yea, I’m human. Just don’t age.”

“So you’re still off being a hero. That’s cool.”

“I’m sorry we weren’t fast enough to-”

“Don’t. It’s not your fault.”

“Melody…” He looked her in the eye for the first time in so long, those light silver eyes the same as they had been the first time. 

She looked away. “Sorry. I can’t look people in the eye like that. It creates a connection and that’s not fun for either of us.”

“I should have thought about that. Look, I’ve got some bad news.”

“I’m not going to die, am I?”

“No! No, you’re not going to die. The spinal implants… We can’t remove them.”

She paused, letting the news sink in for a moment. “And here I was worrying about scars… What does that mean for me?”

“It won’t do anything but you’re going to have to hide it. Owen will have to check it heals properly as well.”

“Ok. So I’ll have to come back here then?”

“Yea.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“On a less dramatic note I guess, you’re going to have some damage to your arm.”

She glanced at her arm. “What kind? I can move my fingers so…”

“A little weakness in your fingers. Some numbness or tingling. Nothing huge.” 

“Oh.” Her lip began to quiver and she closed her eyes tight, swallowing down tears.

He took her hand gently. “It’ll be ok. That wasn’t the part I expected to upset you.”

“God I’m being stupid. It’s not like it’s the worst thing that happened today.” She sobbed.

He offered her a hug and she moved to lean into him. This hadn’t been exactly what he expected but if nothing else he was hopefully about to make her day a little better. After she’d pretty much cried herself out he let her lean back.

“Listen, being as you’re going to be here a lot anyway how do you feel about an office job?”

“Huh?” She snuffled.

“It’ll just be taking care of the tourist information centre and maybe, when you’re healed up, some basic stuff down here, but it pays well. You don’t have to give me an answer right away, just think about it.”

“Yes.”

“I’m glad you’re going to think about it so adamantly.” He chuckled.

“No, I mean yes, to the job.” 


	3. Rest

Jack took a deep breath and leaned against the wall just outside of the medical bay. That had been tougher than he’d expected. He glanced to his right to see his team sitting silently, waiting for him. 

“That went well then.” Owen said flatly, breaking the silence. 

Jack scoffed. “Yea… I thought you guys were going to get breakfast.”

“I’m planning a food run in a bit. Not planning on replacing me, are you?” Asked Ianto, standing from his place on the sofa next to Gwen. 

“Replacing you? No. You’re busier in the archives these days. Plus with your time out in the field I thought you could do with an assistant to cover when those two older ladies come in for a chat every Thursday afternoon.”

He visibly considered it.

“Plus, she’s going to need to be here a lot anyway. Why not get paid for it.”

Gwen smirked. “Nothing to do with her bank account being in the red then?”

“I haven’t seen it. Does anyone have a problem with the idea?” 

Everyone shook their heads. 

“It could be useful to have a telepath available as well.” Tosh pointed out.

Jack grinned. “Then that’s decided. What isn’t is where she’s going to stay tonight. I doubt her roommate’s going to understand if she rolls over and hurts her back. Usually she’d still be in hospital.”

Owen nodded. “I wouldn’t trust her to stay on her own with the painkillers she’s on, and I definitely wouldn’t want her flatmate to find them. Torchwood logo all over them.” He held up one of the vials he had in his lab coat pocket to show the honeycomb T clearly printed on the side.

“As long as I give Rhys a warning she can stay at mine. The spare room isn’t the fanciest but it’s good enough for sleeping in. Plus I’ll be there if anything happens.” Gwen smiled, taking her mobile from her pocket to check the time, not wanting to wake Rhys up too early. As much as he said the late night calls didn’t bother him, she knew he had trouble getting back to sleep after she left. Even worse on the nights she left in a panic. For all he knew the world could be ending, and sometimes he was right. 

Ianto moved to grab his coat. “So, does everyone just want their usual breakfast order?”

“I’m upgrading to my hangover order.” Owen grumbled. “Might not have been drinking but the food coma later’ll be nice.” He yawned and rocked back in his chair.

Jack looked back at the archway that led to the med bay. “Is she going to be able to move?”

“Not for a while. She’s resting for now. If she’s going to have to move around… Hmm… I might have to stabilise her shoulder more.” He brought her scan results up on his computer. “I can go in and stabilise the joints after she’s settled a bit, and I’ve eaten.”

Rhys had to admit the idea of Gwen inviting someone to stay at their home unnerved him. He didn’t know if knowing about what she really did at work made it better or worse. At least this woman, from what he’d been told, wouldn’t be a threat even if she wanted to be. Still, he just wanted to settle when he got back from work. He’d gone for a quick shower as soon as he’d got back and changed into something casual but presentable. They could order in for dinner. The front door clicked open and Gwen walked in, two bags over her shoulder.

“I’m home.” She called as she made sure the door didn’t close on Melody, who was following just behind with her coat wrapped around her shoulders. 

He put a smile on his face and decided he was just going to deal with it. “Long day?”

“Not too long actually.” She kissed her partner on the cheek. “This is Melody.”

Even though he’d been told about this womans condition, he hadn’t quite been prepared for how fragile she looked. She was five feet tall at most, dressed in an oversized t shirt and trainers, her arm in a sling and eyes that looked as if she hadn’t slept in a week. “Hello. I’m Rhys.” He offered his hand to shake. 

Mel smiled softly and shook it. “Thanks for letting me stay. I’ll try not to be too much of a bother.”

“Don’t worry about any of that. Make yourself at home.” 

Gwen gave him a smile and mouthed “thank you.” “Right, let’s get you settled in the spare room, then we can think about dinner. You must be starving.”

That overly chipper and soft tone made him even more uneasy. It was the voice she used when she was worried about someone. It was calming. He’d heard her use it once when they’d witnessed a car accident. She’d pulled over to help and she held the drivers hand while they waited for an ambulance. The drivers legs had been crushed and they were in and out of consciousness. She’d told him later she’d spent the whole time terrified that they’d bleed to death before they were rescued. If this woman was that injured, shouldn’t she be in hospital? Or with their medic? 

Gwen placed Melodys bag onto the single bed in the spare room. “Your flatmate helped me get some clothes for you. I hope they’re ok.”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine. Thanks for going out of your way to get this for me.” Mel perched on the end of the bed.

“I don’t mind. Owen said you can have a shower as long as I sit in the room. It’s just in case you fall. I can read a book or something.”

“I must look such a mess.”

“I’ve come home looking a lot worse.”

“He’s worried about you.”

“Hmm? Rhys? He always worries about me. I can’t blame, him but sometimes I think he worries a bit much.”

“It’s nice though. He loves you so much.”

She sat on the other side of the bag and smiled warmly. “He does… Jess mentioned you broke up with your girlfriend.”

“Yea. We’d been together for two years. I’d been so careful not to read her thoughts. I wanted her to be able to trust me, you know? … Then she asked me to look into her eyes. Just once… She wasn’t the person I thought she was… Not only was she cheating on me, but she just saw me as a way to make money. All that time she’d been using me. That’s why I had to move.”

“Why Cardiff?”

She was going to shrug but thought better of it. “As good of a place as any. I have family not too far away and I hoped I could get a job quickly.” 

“You have one now.”

“Yea. I never thought it’d be for Torchwood though. The amount of times I’d told agents that I wasn’t interested and now… Here I am.”

“We’re a bit different from London.”

“I hope so.” 

Rhys had ordered pizza, deciding that only being able to use one arm would make using a knife and fork awkward at best. Melody hadn’t realised just how hungry she’d been. She hadn’t eaten since the night before, and even then she’d had something light so it wouldn’t make sleeping any harder than her nerves would. The three had settled a little, watching tv and making small talk. 

“You can ask if you really want to. I don’t mind.” Mel said, glancing over at Rhys as she grabbed another slice. 

He blinked for a moment, wondering what she meant before he realised that he’d been cycling through questions in his head, not sure if they’d be rude or not. “Oh… Umm. I didn’t mean to pry.”

“No, it’s ok. I never get to talk about it so go ahead.”

Gwen looked between them. “What?”

“I was just thinking about the whole mind reading thing.” He began.

“You’re not tactful.”

“That’s why I didn’t say anything.”

Mel chuckled before wincing at the pain in her shoulder. “Really, it’s ok.”

“So, is it like you hear the thoughts? Like if I was speaking.”

“Not exactly. It’s more like just remembering something someone’s said. You’re not actively hearing it but you know they said it. It can be a bit disorientating in crowds.”

“Can’t you turn it off?”

“I wish. It would make life a lot easier if I could. I can tune it out most of the time, like background noise unless someone’s really concentrating on a single thought. Then it stands out.”

“Is there a way to stop other people reading your mind?”

“Oh yea, that’s easy. As long as you’re just trying to block out a general telepathic sweep you can just clear your mind. A bit like meditating. You let the thoughts arrive in your head and float out again. It’s good to relax too. If someone’s actively trying to dig into your head you can find something to concentrate on to overwhelm them. I usually think of something frightening or disgusting. That should be more than enough for your general telepath.”

“What if they aren’t just… You know. What if something’s really strong?”

“There aren’t many races that have that kind of power as far as I know, but in that case you’d need extensive training. I was told Torchwood one had a telepath training programme but the way they tried to sell it made it sound a bit… Dodgy.” She said it as if the word was somehow bitter. 

“When Gwen said you were a mind reader I pictured one of those hippy types. Waving crystals around and stuff.”

“The only crystals I have are the ones in my jewellery collection. I know some telepaths can fall into the whole mysticism thing. I can’t blame them sometimes. I mean it makes socialising easier, and dating even easier than that. Not to say I don’t have a spiritual bone in my body. I like to stay open minded and I always like playing with tarot cards.”

“Can you teach people to read minds?”

“Yes and no. You’ve got to have the potential for it. Gwen has.”

Gwen nearly choked on her mouthful of pizza. “What?”

“You’re a low level empath. That’s why when you walk into a room you can tell if something really bad has happened in there. I thought Torchwood tested for that.”

“I took a psychic test but it didn’t show anything.”

“It didn’t show anything above acceptable levels. I could help you make it stronger if you want.”

“I’m not sure I’d even want that.”

“That’s completely fair… Tomorrow’s going to be busy.”

“The paperwork isn’t that bad.”

“I suppose.”

She took a sip of her cola and sat forwards. “Melody, are you sure you want to take this job? Don’t feel like you have to just because of the money. If you don’t want to I’d be happy to help you find a job.”

“Thanks… But I think it’ll be ok. I’m only going to be doing office work until I’ve recovered, and even then I’ll probably only be helping with stationary orders and stuff like that. Anyway, I’m going to need to be close to see Dr Harper because of my back… And the hub was quiet. Which was nice. My flat can be so noisy with people awake all hours of the night trying to concentrate on this or that.” She had a deep sadness in her eyes as she stared down at the floor. “I’ll be ok.” She blinked it away and put her chipper smile back on, looking as if nothing had happened. “Look at the time. I should go and take my painkillers for the night. Thank you again for dinner.”

The next morning, not so bright but definitely early, Ianto dropped a handful of papers onto Owens desk. He turned to Tosh next.

“How did the background check go?”

“Squeaky clean as expected. There is some odd activity in one of her bank accounts but I can ask her about it when she gets here.”

“Odd?”

“That messy break up looks messier than just an argument.”

He didn’t want to gossip but he had to admit he was intrigued. “Oh?”

“Her ex girlfriend has been sending at least one email each day since she moved to Cardiff three months ago. Not only that, she’s been calling at least twice a day, even after a change of number. I don’t think they’ve found her new address but they have had access to her bank account. One thousand three hundred and sixty pounds were transferred two weeks ago, and two thousand five hundred and forty pounds were transferred last week.”

“So she has a scumbag ex. She wouldn’t be the first.”

“I’ve reversed the charges but I’m a little concerned that this harassment campaign could become an issue. I can block any calls or emails but if she finds Melodys address-”

“We might have to step in.”

“I was thinking about a restraining order, but if that doesn’t work then yes.”

“I’m sure Gwen wouldn’t mind a polite discussion with the woman. Did you set up that sim card for her?”

Tosh nodded and took a small box from under a stack of computer parts, handing it to him. “Is her old one still on the ship?”

“Probably. I picked up a new handset for her this morning. I needed to replace Jacks old one anyway. No matter how many times I tell him these things aren’t waterproof, he still ends up diving into somewhere and killing the thing.”

“I think he does it on purpose. He won’t let me modify them to be waterproof.”

He sighed and installed the sim card into the new phone he’d been carrying in his pocket. 

“Are you looking forward to having an assistant?”

He slid the phone back into his pocket. “I’ll appreciate the help. I just hope it won’t be too much for her.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine. She’ll have a good teacher.”

“And that’s why you get the good biscuits.” 


	4. Settle in

“Did you sleep?” Asked Owen as he examined Melodys back, glad that the redness had gone down and her body didn’t seem to be rejecting the implants.

She hugged the back of the chair. “A few nightmares, but that’s all.”

“It doesn’t sound like that’s all.”

“I was just overthinking things. It’s honestly not a big deal.” 

He wasn’t convinced but he knew pushing the issue wouldn’t help. “I meant to ask yesterday, your medical records are a bit of a mess. Looks like your last GP didn’t know how to use a computer, so I’m going to need you to help me fill in some blanks.” Technically it was all true. That was how Jack had told him to get a few little white lies past her. 

“I’ll do my best. It shouldn’t be too hard as I don’t go to the doctors very often.”

“Is that because you don’t need to or don’t want to?”

“Bit of both. I was brought up just patching myself up so unless I feel like I’m dying, I don’t see the point.”

“You’re going to be one of those people aren’t you?”

“Huh?”

“The type that gets hurt, hides it, then I get a call at three in the morning because they’ve woken up in a puddle of blood.”

She blushed a little and gave a less than confident, “no.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“I’m just going to be doing paperwork. I’m not exactly going to be in the line of fire.”

“We can hope… You can put your top back on. Need a hand?”

“I’ll be fine. Thanks though.” She smiled and carefully manoeuvred her damaged arm through her sleeve before pulling it over her head. 

He pushed himself across the room on his office chair, stopping to add a few notes to the file open on one of the screens. “Any breathing problems? Seasonal or otherwise.”

“Only if I have to run. Otherwise I’m fine.”

“Do you smoke?”

“No. Can’t stand the smell.”

“Good. And do you drink?”

“Not really.”

“And do you take any drugs.”

“A telepath on drugs? That’s just asking for trouble.” 

“Well, congratulations you’re going to find out what a trip is like when you get all the Torchwood reading material. It was made in the forties and hasn’t been updated since. Keep a copy for bad days.”

She giggled lightly before wincing.

“Tosh wants to set up your login information and security access, then Ianto’s going to show you around. If him and Jack are nowhere to be found, don’t look for them. You don’t need to see that.”

Jess curled her legs up onto the sofa, sending another message to Mels number. She just wanted to know if her flatmate was ok. She’d already called around the contacts she had to find out if they’d gotten anything. They hadn’t. She’d even gone by the police station, but when she mentioned PC Cooper they’d brushed her off. It all felt so wrong. She’d moved on to emailing any address she could find in the old address book Melody had kept on her dressing table. Finally someone replied. 

_ Hi Jess. _ _   
_ _ I hope she’s ok too. Maybe I should come up and visit. I don’t have her address since she moved but I can meet you at a cafe or something. This PC Cooper doesn’t sound like a police officer at all. Mel’s not the type to get into trouble but she can be a bit gullible. Keep trying to contact her. I can get the train tomorrow and at least then you won’t be alone. You should look around her room and see if there are any clues there. Maybe she left something behind. I hope to hear from you soon. _

_ N. _

The woman smiled, knowing she wouldn’t be alone. This girl seemed nice, and as long as they were meeting in a public place it wouldn’t be dangerous. She sent an email back agreeing to the meeting then headed into Melodys room. It looked pretty tidy, other than the bed not being made. A diary sat on the bedside table beside a lamp and an empty water bottle. Jess wasn’t the type to read someones diary, even if they were missing. She pulled open one of the draws next to the bed, finding some papers, pens, a pack of painkillers and what looked like a glass locket. A little piece of paper, faded with age, was encased between two domed glass cabochons and hung on a thin chain. A letter T was printed on it in black ink. A sentimental item maybe? The edges of the paper looked to be torn before being preserved. She was about to grab it to examine it further when her phone rang from the living room. She closed the draw and ran to answer.

“Hello?”

“Hi Jess.”

“Melody?! Where have you been? Are you ok? What’s going on?”

“I’m ok. My phone got broken in the attack so I’ve only just managed to pick up a new one.”

“Where are you? I called the hospital, but they hadn’t heard of you and-”

“Jess. Calm down. I’m just staying with a friend for a few days until the doctor clears me to come home.”

“This is all just… Really strange.”

“I can tell you everything when I get home, ok?”

“O-ok… Just… If you’re in trouble…”

“It’s me. I don’t do trouble. My life’s too boring for that.”

Jessicas heart settled a little. Mel sounded ok, not upset in the slightest. Maybe she’d been overthinking all of this. “Just keep in touch.”

“I will. See you soon.”

“Bye.” She ended the call and saved the number. Chucking her mobile onto the other side of the sofa she started to think about the pendant and N. That had been the name in the address book. Just N. 

The next month was taken up by life returning to relative normalcy. Melody had been able to go home and the meeting with N not mentioned. Ianto, though he’d been a little tentative about letting anyone take on any of his duties, had started to enjoy having someone to take over a lot of the mundane tasks. It freed up a lot of time and let him concentrate on more interesting things. He was still in charge of coffee as Melody had reasoned that she didn’t know everyone well enough to get that right and it would be better if she stayed upstairs while she was training. It was good logic and let him be protective over his old coffee machine. Jack had let go of some of the guilt he’d been carrying, or at least got better at hiding it, and had regained a lot of his usual attitude. A few cases had cropped up, but other than a few weevil hunts it had been quiet. Everyone was thankful for that. 

“Morning.” Ianto smiled as Melody walked into the tourist information centre.

She smiled brightly. “Morning.” She was dressed smartly, every bit the image of an office worker, her handbag slung over her right shoulder. She was still wearing a support for her left arm under her blouse but it couldn’t really be seen. “Anything interesting going on today?”

“Nope.” He sipped his coffee. “Oh, actually-” he disappeared through the beaded curtain, returning with a bouquet of flowers, “-these arrived for you last night after you left.”

She gave a confused look and took the flowers: begonias, azaleas, yellow carnations, gladiolus and yellow chrysanthemums. The small card said “See you soon. N.” Melodys heart dropped and it must have been clear.

“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He placed down his cup and pulled out a chair for her to sit before she fell over. 

She shook her head and took the card, slipping it into her sleeve. “I must have just overdone it on the walk here. These are no good for my hay-fever. You can have them, or throw them away.”

“Are you sure?” He took the flowers, knowing that something about them must have really unnerved her. 

“Very. I can get started here.”

“I’ll check on you before lunch.”

“Ok. Have a good day.” She smiled a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. 

He made his way down with the flowers resting on his arm. It was a shame as they looked to be expensive and had a perfume that followed them without being overpowering. Maybe Tosh would like them. 

Jack stood back from where he’d been listening to Tosh explain her latest rift readings and smiled at Ianto. He raised an eyebrow at the flowers.

“Where did those come from?” He asked.

“These were the ones delivered last night. Melody looked like she was about to pass out when she saw them.”

Taking a closer look Jacks brow furrowed. “I can see why. That’s a pretty threatening message if I remember my flower language right.”

“Oh?”

“Begonias mean beware. Azaleas can mean fragility or to take care of yourself. Yellow carnations are disappointment or rejection. Gladiolus are for sincerity and yellow chrysanthemums are…” He tried to remember what he had learned so long ago. 

Tosh looked over. “Slighted love.” 

“Yes. Thank you. Did it have a card?”

Ianto turned it over but the card was missing. “I must have dropped it.”

Melody read the message Tosh had sent her and sighed as she pulled the small card from her sleeve. She didn’t even know why she hid it. She’d been open about how creepy her ex had been so this wouldn’t exactly be anything new. Maybe it was fear? Embarrassment? She turned the card over to see if it said the company it had been delivered by. It looked to be a local florist. She sent a link to their website to Tosh and tossed the card onto the desk in front of her. She needed to relax. Just because Naomi had found out where she worked, didn’t mean she’d found her address. She reached up for the pendant hanging around her neck and rubbed her thumb over the smooth glass surface. She wasn’t going to let her personal life get in the way of her job. 

Jess had actually enjoyed having new to chill out with, even if they had been very careful not to run into Mel. The tall woman sat across from her.

“Sorry I’m late. Traffic was terrible.” 

Jess waved the apology off. “Don’t worry. I only just got here myself.”

“So how’s things?”

“Not bad. Mel’s at her new job.”

“That’s great. She always used to be a bit lazy so I’m glad she’s changed.”

“She’s been really hard working since she got here. I mean, as much as she can after the attack.”

“Are you sure it was real?”

She looked up with a start. “What? Of course it’s real.”

“Look, don’t get me wrong but Mel used to make things up for attention all the time. I mean all the stories I’d hear about her ex girlfriends you’d think she’d be down at the police station all the time. She’s not a bad person, just a bit dramatic.” The womans dark eyes stared down at something hidden in her palm. 

“I saw how bruised her arm is, so I don’t think it’s just a story… Did you meet her ex? I mean she never even told me her name.”

“No. I started to wonder if she ever existed. With all of Mels other stories I didn’t know what to believe. Has she told you that she’s a psychic yet?”

“What? Don’t be silly.”

“I’m serious. She said she could read minds.”

Jess frowned, feeling very uncomfortable. “She’s my flatmate. I don’t want to gossip about her.”

“Look.” The woman reached over the table and held Jessicas hand, something cool pressed between their palms. “I’m just trying to look out for you.”

Her head seemed to swim, like she was suddenly drunk. “I… I don’t feel well…” She slurred. 

“Why don’t I drive you home, yea?” 

“Yea… Thanks Naomi.” 

She kept hold of Jessicas hand as she led the woman to her car, the shimmering red stone held between their palms pulsing softly. 

Gwen approached the figure, curled over in the corner of the taped off room. Owen had placed his kit down and glanced at the corpse. 

“It looks like it should be in a museum.” He said. 

She agreed. If it weren’t for the modern clothing wrapped around the mummified human it probably would have been sent for carbon dating. “Do we know of anything that can… Dehydrate a body like this?”

“Not that I’ve seen personally.” He crouched next to the mummy and examined its hands. One was still wrapped around something small and metallic, but the other looked to have been peeled back and broken. “Someone got here before us.”

“You’re telling me.” She pointed to a cuff chained to the headboard and the pillows moved to allow it to be used.

“Kinky.”


	5. Close to home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little trigger warning for mentions of emotional and psychological abuse. Stay safe.

Transporting the solid, mummified body had been a pain but at least it was near perfectly preserved. He’d extracted the metallic object from her closed hand with a little persuasion and a lot of cutting. Though he’d noted that whoever hand ripped open the other hand had attempted to open this one too but hadn’t managed to do much more than scuff the skin before giving up. The body had been completely dehydrated but he could still identify her by her dental records. Angela Kyle, twenty six years old, local resident and florist. She’d last been seen only the day before, alive and well. 

“Any leads?” Asked Jack from the barrier.

“I got the thing she was holding free and I found skin cells under her nails. Might tell us who broke her other hand.”

“Any idea what the chunk of metal is?”

“No idea yet. But I’d be careful picking it up. When I was collecting it my fingers kept burning the closer to it I got.”

He looked down at the palm sized chunk on the table. “So, it’s a good candidate for what killed our mummy.”

“Can’t be sure yet but yea. Gwen gave Tosh the laptop we found to look through. I told her good luck checking the browser history.”

“She’s seen yours. I don’t think she’ll be too shocked.”

“Oi. My tastes are pretty vanilla compared to what was hidden under the bed next to the body.” 

“Such as?”

“Looks like she was into the whole whips and chains thing. There were wrist cuffs still attached to the headboard.”

“Maybe one of her games went too far and her partner panicked.”

“Hopefully we’ll know who that partner is in a second.” 

Gwen had run up to fetch Melody for lunch, finding her looking at her phone with concern all over her face. 

“What’s wrong?”

Mel turned her attention from the small screen. “Sorry. I’m not just sitting here playing.”

“I wouldn’t mind even if you were. Have those flowers worried you that much?”

“No… Well, yes, but… My flatmate said she was meeting a friend today and she always checks in with her boyfriend once an hour… He just texted me that he can’t get hold of her. I know she might have just forgotten but…”

“It’s ok to worry. Is her phone ringing?”

“I didn’t want to make calls on work time.”

“We’re on lunch. Call her.” She leaned on the desk. 

Mel found Jessicas contact and hit call. It rang… And rang… But no answer. 

Gwen moved around to the computer and logged in to her own profile. “What’s her number?”

She held up the phone. “What are you doing?”

“Tracking her phone. If it’s on then we can find out where it is.” The blue Torchwood interface flashed up a map. “Looks like her phone’s at your place. If you’re really worried I can use it to listen in.” 

“This really isn’t like her.”

“Listening in it is, but we should go downstairs.”

“If you’re sure, ok.” She followed Gwen past the hidden door and down to the main area of the hub.

Ianto raised an eyebrow as they appeared. “Were those two old ladies bothering you again? I never thought I’d have to ban them.” 

“No.” Mel said, unconsciously rubbing the pendant around her neck between her thumb and index finger. 

Gwen grabbed her headset and listened in to Jessicas phone. “I can hear voices… Here.” She handed it to Melody who pressed one side against her ear. 

“That’s Jess. And….” She almost dropped the headset. “Oh god.” 

“What?” 

“I… Naomi… How?... Gwen would it be ok for you to drive me home? I can’t be sure but I think Jess might be in trouble.”

Owen emerged from the medical bay. “Did you say Naomi? Would that be Naomi Anne Paul? Twenty two?”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“I found her DNA under the nails of our mummy.” 

“She’s creepy but she wouldn’t… I mean…” She took her keys from her pocket and handed them to Gwen. “If Jess is hurt I’ll never forgive myself.”

Jack had a bad feeling about what he was running in to. If this woman had something that could turn a human being into a mummy in only hours they could be extremely dangerous. Gwen unlocked the door and pushed it open. The flat was quiet. Eerily quiet. Jack motioned for Gwen to check one bedroom while he checked the other. Owen stayed posted at the door, just in case. Melodys room was empty, but it had been ransacked. Every draw emptied out onto the bed and searched through. 

“Owen!” Gwen shouted from the other room. She had found Jess on the floor, weak and gasping, her lips chapped as if she hadn’t had access to water in a long time. Owen had packed his kit with the assumption that this could be what he was running in to. 

“Call an ambulance. I can stabilise her but she’s going to need to stay in for observation.” He said before turning his full attention to the woman on the floor. “Jessica? I’m here to help, ok?”

Jessicas eyes drifted as if trying to tell where the voice was coming from. 

Ianto sat next to Melody on the sofa. “I think you should tell us the whole story about her. This wasn’t your fault but Jack’s going to want to know everything you do.” 

“I should have known… I just didn’t want to think she was really dangerous. She was a manipulative bitch, sure, but still. Murder.”

“Sometimes you don’t want to think people are capable of that sort of thing, especially if you care about them.”

“I never told her anything about aliens or Torchwood. I don’t know how she could have gotten hold of anything that could do that to someone. I only ever told her I could read minds and in the circles we hung around in it wasn’t that rare.”

“This isn’t about your telepathy. She’s a stalker. She just wants to get to you.”

“This is all my fault.”

“It’s her fault, not yours.”

Tosh turned around in her chair. “Being as she’s been stalking you, I say we do some stalking of our own. I already have everything official records have on her, and a few unofficial ones. Is there anything that could help us profile her?”

“She’s cultivated her whole image to always look like a victim so she can get away with her nonsense. Her vision’s bad in her left eye so she’s got a shorter range of vision.”

“Ok, that’s good. Keep going.”

“She’s fast in a sprint, but she can’t run for long at all. She doesn’t look it but she’s physically pretty strong. She used to keep a folding knife in her bag… Where we lived was a bit rough. Um… If she can she’ll try and get the police involved because she thinks they’ll always be on her side. Oh, she’s really fussy with where she stays so even if she’d be broke afterwards if she’s in a hotel it has to be a really nice one.”

“Does she have any bank accounts in other names?”

“She has one under Amy Paul. It’s her sisters name but it’s her account.” 

“Why do you think she’s so obsessed with you? I know you said she wanted money but this seems a lot of expense to get money. It’s counterproductive.”

Mel looked down. “I don’t know. She had obsessive tendencies I suppose but nothing like what happened after I left. I was even really careful to avoid telepathy addiction.”

“Hmm?”

“You know that feeling when someone tries to read your thoughts. Some people get off on it. Others get addicted. I think she just likes being in control of someone else's life. I know she was kicked out of a few groups for unsafe practices.”

“Groups?”

She blushed brightly, having not realised how much she’d possibly overshared. “Common interest groups… For discussing um… Adult things... “

“Oh?... Oh! Oh right.” Tosh pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “That does seem to be a bit of a red flag.”

“I know. I know. I’m stupid.”

“You’re not stupid.” She was startled by Gwens voice as she called in. 

“Jessica’s just been taken to the hospital. She’s dehydrated but she’ll be ok. Naomi was gone before we arrived.”

She looked over at Mel, who slumped down into the sofa, her face in her hands. “I’m working on finding her. Just a warning, she’s likely to be carrying a knife and will happily make a scene.”

“Good to know.”

“Tell Melody I want a word with her the second I get back.” Jack stated, clearly annoyed. 

Jack marched into the hub in front of a slightly tired looking Owen and an unnerved looking Gwen. 

“So what have you been hiding?” He asked firmly. 

Melody looked up, a little puffy eyed. “I wasn’t hiding anything. I told you about her, I just didn’t know how far she’d go.” 

“That’s not what I mean. What was she looking for in your room?”

“What?”

“Why would she go through everything you own? What was she looking for?” He stared her down but, as usual, she didn’t meet his eyes. 

“When I left I just took my clothes, some documents, my guitar and myself. That was it. Do you think I had something alien?”

“Well, she nearly killed your flatmate to get to your room so…” 

Gwen grabbed his arm. “Jack! That was uncalled for.”

Mel stared at the floor. “No. I understand. This is what she does. She knows no one can really let themselves trust me. It was just a matter of time so don’t worry about it. You only gave me this job out of pity anyway.”

“I didn-” He began, the frustration draining in an instant. 

“It’s ok. Really. I’m used to it. Thanks for helping me with my arm and everything. I’ll go.” She pulled the pendant from around her neck and tossed it onto the table by the sofa, followed by her access card. “All she wanted to do was get to me so she’ll probably give it up now.”

“Melody I didn’t mean to-” 

She smiled at him, looking for all the world like her usual ray of sunshine other than the tears pouring down her face. “Really, it’s fine. You wanted to forget me anyway, right? Me just being here must have hurt.” She placed a shaking hand over her ribs. “Maybe Naomi was right. I can’t have friends for long. Too much drama.”

He crossed the gap between them and pulled her into a hug. “That isn’t true.” 

“I’m sorry.” She snuffled. 

“Why didn’t you tell us she was like this?”

“I did.”

“No, you said she was a bit obsessive. This is way past that. We could have stopped this before it began.”

“I didn’t think she was this bad.” 

“Look, go and splash some water on your face. Take a moment and then you can help us track her down.”

She nodded and rushed off. Gwen sighed.

“Now isn’t the time to give me a lecture Gwen.”

“I wasn’t going to. I think I understand why she’s been minimising this the whole time. Naomi might have never hit her but she got into her head. It usually takes a huge wake up call to make someone that psychologically beaten down leave like she did.” She picked up the pendant and studied the weathered piece of paper it contained. “This looks like she’s had it for years.” 

He glanced at the paper and recognised the writing on the none printed side of the paper. “Huh.”

“What?”

“It’s a corner of a Torchwood issue telepathy assessment.”

“Torchwood saved her once. It probably made her feel safe. The metal frame’s worn down… I think this is what Naomi was looking for.” 


	6. Maybe

Tosh had found Naomis hotel room and Jack wanted to try and grab her there. Logically that’s where she’d head. The room itself was nice, the large windows letting daylight spill across the area. Gwen opened the laptop that had been left on the bed. They still needed to find out where she found the alien technology in the first place. 

“Anything?” Jack asked as he casually looked through the draws in the dressing table.

“Other than being allergic to passwords I’m still looking.”

“She’s making it too easy.”

“I don’t think she thought she’d be dealing with us.”

“Are you going to lecture me now?”

Gwen rolled her eyes. “You already know what I’d say.”

“That’s never stopped you before.”

“You were arse. You jumped to conclusions and took it out on someone who was already in a vulnerable state. Someone who obviously looks up to you. I understand why, but you were still an arse about it.” 

“Feel better?”

“I will when we find this woman. Aren’t you even a bit sorry?”

He turned, surprised. “Of course I am. I’ll talk to her later.”

“Is it because she’s a telepath?”

“No!...” He sat next to her. “Not completely. I’ve worked with telepaths before and it can be difficult. Especially at her skill level.”

“She said she tries not to listen.”

“That’s not the problem. Just looking into someones eyes for more than a few seconds can read everything they’re thinking about. A few minutes and you can know everything about them. Every single memory, every feeling, even the darkest parts of their mind. It doesn’t stop there. If you can read all that you can manipulate it. You can make others do whatever you want, good or bad. You can change who people are at the deepest levels. Most telepaths either isolate themselves before they get to that stage or their skills start to degrade. If she wanted to hide something she could. I can’t afford to miss something like that.” 

“I don’t think she’d hide something like that. Especially not from you.” She scanned over a set of emails. “Looks like she bought three of those metallic gems from a seller in America. They’re supposed to be cursed and they were found at the site of a meteor landing. There aren't that many details but I’m sure it’s something Tosh could track.”

“Owen has one that he removed from the mummys hand. That leaves two.”

“So are we waiting here for her or…” 

Ianto looked over from his computer. He’d decided Mel shouldn’t be left alone even in the tourist information centre. She’d been silent for most of the time and he wasn’t sure what, if anything, he could say to lift the mood. She’s busied herself organising some of the old folders.

“Mel-” He began.

“It’s fine. You don’t have to say anything.”

He sighed. “What if I want to?”

“Then go ahead, but I’m not exactly going to be the best at conversation.”

“He didn’t mean to go off at you like that.”

“I told you, I understand. It’s fine.”

“If it was fine you wouldn’t still be upset.”

“I’m upset because, yet again, my very existence nearly got someone killed. I don’t know why I didn’t just move to some tiny village somewhere to limit the damage. That or just stayed where I was.”

Ianto pushed himself away from the computer and turned to face her. “Are you seriously saying you should have stayed with her?”

“Maybe. Maybe she would have been the next one to get hurt instead of Jess. Maybe I wouldn’t have to feel like the one thing that kept me going was a lie. I know my version of Jack is just a stupid kids idealised version, but the idea that there was someone out there… A hero. It made everything tolerable. Even when she tried to…” She cut herself off.

“Tried to what?”

She stood. “I need some air. Sorry for snapping at you.” Not waiting for a reply, she rushed outside. He could sympathise but it didn’t stop him getting a little frustrated with her. He’d give her five minutes to cool off and then go and fetch her. Going out there when he wanted to snap right back at her wasn’t going to help. 

“I told you I’d see you soon.” Naomi smiled, as calm as if she were greeting her best friend. 

Mel didn’t even flinch. “You did.”

“Don’t look so upset. I did this for you. You needed to see how cruel the world could be and I didn’t want you to have to wait so long. Are you ready to come home?”

“I guess.”

“You really hurt me when you left like that. I know sleeping with someone else wasn’t ok and I’m sorry.”

“Why did you want me to read your mind?”

“I just wanted to look into your eyes for once. That’s why I went off and slept with him in the first place. I think you’d like him if you gave him a chance.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Of course you do. You can come home and do what’s best for you or you can live all alone. It’s not like anyone else will love you like I do.” 

“Let’s just go.” She said solemnly. “Are you going to try and kill me too?”

The woman feigned shock. “Of course not. Here-” she took the metallic stone from her pocket and dropped it. “See? We can go right back to how things were. Once you’ve paid me back for everything I had to spend getting here you can buy new clothes and stuff.”

“Yea… I guess I can.” 

“We should be able to get back to the hotel and still get the train before rush hour. You can get the hotel to give me a full refund. I’m sure you can find something to blackmail the receptionist with.”

“I’m not hurting anyone.”

“After everything you’ve put me through you’ll do as I tell you.”

“No, I won’t.” Melody hissed.

She gave a soft smile and grabbed Mels hair, pulling her over so they were almost nose to nose. “You’re nothing without me. Just a freakish little bitch. Now do as you’re told before I lose my temper.”

“Oi!” Shouted Ianto, having gone out looking for his workmate. “Let her go!”

“Keep your mouth shut.” She snapped, letting go and turning to the man with an innocent look. “I was just defending myself. She has a temper. It’s not her fault, poor thing. I should get her home.”

“I don’t think so. Melody, you don’t have to go with her. I know today’s been crap but that doesn’t mean-”

“Oh you know each other? What has she been telling you about me?”

“You can keep your games to yourself. I’m not buying your act.”

A voice, incredibly faint, as if whispered on the wind pierced through his mind. “She dropped the alien rock thing back there.”

He glanced at Melody who nodded, confirming that the voice in his head was hers. “You’re unarmed. Just give up.”

“You mean the stone?” Naomi smiled. “I have one left.” She raised her left hand and grabbed the back of Mels neck, sending what felt like lightning down her back, dropping her to her knees. Ianto took the moment to tackle the woman, knocking the metallic device from her hand and sending them both sprawling across the floor. Naomi recovered quickly and took the folding knife from her pocket. She tried to bring it down towards Iantos neck as he wrestled her wrist back. 

“Stop!” Mel cried out, her voice sounding as if she was speaking in a cave. “Drop the knife.” 

The blade clattered to the ground and Ianto took the chance to restrain the woman. 

Naomi thrashed in frustration. “How dare you! You use your powers against me?! You wouldn’t even be able to do that without me guiding you.” 

“You want the truth? I could do this all along. I knew what I was capable of years before I even met you. You’re pathetic. You think you can control everyone and everything around you but under the surface you’re alone. Your little boy toy dumped you, didn’t he? Our friends sided with me without even asking any questions. I was ok as long as the only person you really hurt was me but then you had to take it too far. I saw what you had planned. Did you really think you could hide that from me? Or did you want me to find out?” Melody said calmly, looking down at the bound woman as she helped Ianto to his feet. 

“You never would have known if I hadn’t let you! You just needed that push to realise you needed to use your power to make sure no one could ever hurt you again. I knew you’d never have let him go through with it. Killing is hard but after you do it once it gets so much easier.”

“You’re a monster. You were going to con a man into… Sleeping with me.” She censored herself, taking a calming breath to hold her temper. “You know I only went out with you out of pity and somehow I let you convince me we had something special. I let you convince me I really was worthless. But you’re the one who’s worthless.” 

Ianto pulled Naomi up from the floor and dragged her back towards the entrance to the hub. 

Jack closed the box that contained the three gemstones, glad that they were out of human hands. They could be archived later. His team were getting ready to go out for a drink but there was one more thing he needed to do. 

“Melody’s still outside if you want to catch her but I don’t think she’ll stick around for long. She wanted to get the flat cleaned up before Jessicas parents come round.” Ianto said.

He nodded. “Thanks. Are you going with the others?”

“That’s the plan. Will you be joining us later?”

“Yea. I hoped Mel would want to go.”

“I doubt alcohol would make this an easier conversation.”

He chuckled and heard Gwen calling Ianto to join them. He was just happy to see the team working so well together. 

Melody waved as her workmates left. She’d decided to spend a little while looking across the water before she started the walk home. It was calming. She had a blasting headache and needed to be calm before she had to sort out the disaster that was her room. 

“I could give you a lift home if you want.” Jack said, walking up and standing next to her. 

“It’s ok. I like the walk.”

He took something from his pocket and held it out to her. The pendant sat in his palm with her access card. “You forgot these.”

“You still want me around? After everything?”

“That was on me. I understand why you didn’t want to talk about it but I shouldn’t have got angry at you… I didn’t hire you out of pity, you know.” 

She took the card and slipped it into her bag. “Sure you didn’t.”

“I didn’t. Ianto needed an assistant and having a telepath around could be useful. It was just good timing.” He turned the pendant over in his hand. “What now? You don’t have to run anymore.”

“I don’t know… Part of me just wants to leave everything behind… Disappear.”

“And the other part?”

“I don’t want to move again. I don’t really know what called me here of all places and it only took a few months for me to mess it up. What’ll happen to Naomi?”

“Tonight she can sweat it out in the cells. Tomorrow we’ll hand her over to the police with an open and shut murder case. She won’t bother you again.”

“Good… Sorry I managed to make trouble for you again.”

He scoffed. “This doesn’t even touch the scale of trouble in my life. When did you start being able to talk into peoples minds and command them anyway?”

“I’ve been able to do that since I was thirteen. I just hate doing it. It gives me a headache and makes me feel gross.” She glanced over at him. “You can throw that necklace in the water, or the bin, whichever.”

“Why? It obviously meant a lot to you once.” 

“It’s just a reminder of something that doesn’t exist. I’m not a kid anymore. I need to let go of my stupid, childish, reliance on the idea that someone’s always going to appear to save me if I get in trouble.”

“Hoping someone’s looking out for you isn’t childish.”

“It feels it.”

There was a long silence, only disturbed by the sound of the water. “Will I see you tomorrow? Your job’s still here if you want it.”

“I… I don’t know.” 

It hadn’t been the answer he’d hoped for. He ran his thumb over the smooth glass of the pendant, the faded logo barely visible in the dim light of the evening. “Why did you keep this? The paper.”

“It was the one thing that said the voices in my head were real. Plus it let me remember what Torchwood even was.”

“Didn’t you want to forget that night?”

“I did for a while. I buried it so my councillors would be happy, but then I learned to meditate and everything came back.”

“I thought you’d hate me.”

“Hate you?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “What for?”

“Your ribs. The damage it did to your lung.”

“It was no worse than what had already happened and you took me to the hospital. I’d be dead if you hadn’t dug the parasite out. So what if running makes me a bit out of breath… I should go. I don’t want it to be too dark before I get home.”

“Stay safe.”

“After today there isn’t a mugger in the world that would dare.” She gave a slight smile before putting in her headphones and walking off into the night. He looked back down at the pendant and frowned. He slipped it into his pocket and headed off to meet his team at the bar. 


	7. Endings and beginnings

As the work day began Jack was a little gloomy. He was trying to hide it but everyone felt the same. They’d all hoped Mel would be back the next day after he’d told them about how their conversation went. Tosh had just been disappointed. She’d enjoyed their silly little email chains and relaxed attitude, even when the computer system was doing its best to be as frustrating as possible. She’d miss it. Owen just hoped she took care of herself. After all, she was still nowhere near recovered and this whole mess would slow it even further. He hadn’t minded having someone around that could read his writing and laughed at the stupid jokes he put into his reports because no one ever read them. Gwen just hated losing friends. Granted, Mel wasn’t dead but it wasn’t as if their jobs allowed for much socialisation. It was just one of those days that was going to suck from the very start. Ianto sat up in the tourist information centre, tidying up just as something to do. He’d liked having a little help with some of his more mundane tasks. Someone to talk to or leave notes for. Partially he enjoyed being in charge for once. He picked up the cat shaped post it notes that Melody used so her messages didn’t get lost. The imprint of the last note was still visible as she always pressed down just a little too hard on the pen while writing. 

The sound of the front door being pushed open made him jump. 

“Sorry, sorry. Jessicas parents turned up late last night and my alarm clock was broken, then I forgot to charge my phone and the taxi broke down so I had to run the rest of the way, then my shoe broke, it’s been a morning. I know I’m twenty minutes late but I promise I’ll make the time up later.” Melody rambled, trying to catch her breath and keep her bag on her shoulder as she stumbled in. 

He felt a smile cross his face. “We didn’t think we’d see you again.”

“Without two weeks notice? That’d be a bit unprofessional. Oh, the box of leaflets we were waiting for have been left on the front step. It’s too heavy for me to lift.”

“There’s some super glue in the supply cupboard to fix your shoe.” 

“Thanks. I’ll be right back.” 

Jack tossed another report, or paper ball, into the bin. His mind just wasn’t in it so what he wrote didn’t make any sense. He’d do it later. Maybe once the police had got back to him about the prisoner down in the cells. He was pulled from his thoughts as he heard Gwen speak cheerily. 

“Oh hello.” She said, her smile clear in her voice. 

Mel nodded, holding her shoes by her side. “Morning. Did I miss anything?”

“No, nothing. We just thought you weren’t coming back after yesterday.”

“I wasn’t going to make any life altering decisions when I was emotional like that. Plus I’d still need to hand in my two weeks notice and I wasn’t going to just leave Jess to pay rent on her own.”

“Well, I’m just glad you did. Is Jessica ok?” 

“She’s fine, yea. Apparently she wanted to come home last night, but her mum convinced her to stay at the hospital… Have the police come to pick up Naomi yet?”

“Not yet. They’ve had a busy morning apparently. Did you want to… um… Say anything to her?”

“No…” She looked over towards the door to the cells then shook her head. “No. I’m done with her. I’m not going to spend any more energy dealing with her.”

Jack emerged from his office. “You won’t get the chance to tell her what you think of her again. And catch.” He tossed a small item to her. 

“Wha-” she fumbled, her shoes dropping to the floor as she tried to catch what had caught the light. The pendant landed in her grasp and she examined it. “I thought I said you could throw this away.”

“You did. I chose not to.” He smiled softly.

She pocketed the pendant and picked up her shoes. “I hope she hasn’t been too much trouble overnight. Naomi I mean.”

“She’s good at shouting, but so’s Janet so it’s not the biggest problem. Oh and I looked at the CCTV from yesterday and never pull anything like that ever again. She could have killed you if Ianto hadn’t intervened.”

“She wouldn’t. But don’t worry, I plan to stay out of trouble from now on.”

“What exactly was she planning?”

“To take over the world.”

He scoffed before realising she wasn’t joking. “How?”

“She thinks just because I can influence people I could control people in power. I’ve told her before that it doesn’t work like that and I’d end up with a bullet to the brain if I was lucky. I’d end up in some lab if I wasn’t.”

“I wouldn’t let that happen.”

“Why not? That sounds like a pretty evil plan.”

“I’m sure I could talk you down.”

“Jack, if you shouted loud enough I’d just cry and run off. I’m not cut out for taking over the world. Anyway, I should go and fix my shoe and get to work.”

He nodded and watched her trot off. Gwen chuckled.

“What?”

“You were worried she wasn’t coming back too.”

“I knew she couldn’t stay away for long.”

“Of course you did.” 

In the supply cupboard Mel sat with a small tube of superglue in one hand and her shoe in the other. While the glue set she placed the tube aside and took the pendant from her pocket. It felt comfortable in her hand. She’d had it for a decade so it should. The yellowed paper inside looked as if it had shifted slightly, or maybe it was just the tears blurring her vision. She hadn’t let herself think about the day before until now, the ache in the back of her neck reminding her that Jack was right. She could have been hurt, badly. Jess was hurt. She’d been so sure there was nothing else she wanted to say to her monster of an ex but there was. There was so much she wanted to say but didn’t even know how she’d manage it without breaking down. She shook her head, pushing down her feelings, and wiped her eyes. The glue was dry so she slipped her shoe on and stood, her pendant hanging securely around her neck. She took her phone from her pocket as it alerted her of a new email. 

_ Tosh: Glad you came in today. I’ve sent over our updated telepath test. Could you take a look at it when you get the chance? Thanks. _

Melody smiled, feeling a little more normal. Another message popped up.

_ Gwen: Sorry to bug you but what would you like me to tell Naomi if she asks about you? I didn’t want to say anything without asking you first. Thanks. _

She stopped and thought for a moment.

_ Mel: Just tell her that zap to the neck she gave me killed me. If she thinks I’m gone she might just give up and be a bit more compliant _ . 

As the police were evidently too busy Gwen decided she’d escort their prisoner to the police station. Janet cooed as she walked past, happy to see someone familiar after listening to this stranger for hours. 

“It’s ok.” Gwen said softly as she stepped past. “Ok Naomi. We’re transferring you to the local police station. They’ll take it from here.”

The woman inside the cell looked up with reddened eyes. She looked small and desperately sad. “They won’t understand. Those things had control of me.”

“We’ve looked at the stones. They don’t do that. Come on, I don’t want to have to drag you out of here.” 

“Who are you people? Where am I? I don’t understand.” Naomi sobbed. It was a convincing act, Gwen had to admit, but not good enough to convince a trained police officer. 

“Jack told you all of that last night.”

“Torchwood. The ones who wanted to recruit Melody, but I thought they didn’t exist anymore. You don’t have the right to do this to me.”

“Yes we do.”

“Can I at least say goodbye to Mel?”

“She didn’t survive the effects of the stone device you used on her.” She almost felt bad about lying but this was what Melody had wanted her to say.

She looked like she’d taken a punch to the gut. “W-what? No. It wasn’t meant to do that. It was just meant to hurt a bit.”

“Due to an attack a month ago she already had a weakness in her spine. Didn’t you see the support running up from her wrist?”

“You’re lying! You have to be!” 

Gwen shook her head and opened the cell door, walking in to cuff the woman who was lost in her own thoughts. She led the woman out and to the garage, sitting her in the passenger seat of her car. 

“I did love her.” Naomi said as Gwen got into the drivers seat. “We met in school. She told me about her mind reading power and I thought she was magical. She was the only good thing about those days.”

“Then why did you hurt her?”

“I couldn’t let her leave me. Couldn’t let her go too far. I knew she could be so powerful if she just let go. I just had to push her far enough to get over how she felt about using her power. It was working.”

Gwen gripped the steering wheel so hard her knuckles began to turn white.

“She had these nightmares for years that she’d tell me about. It was always so quiet. She could see an open window and a clear black sky. She said her head always felt fuzzy and the light was too bright. Everything hurt from her neck down and there was a monster that loomed over her. Its fingers pressed into her chest and she couldn't breathe. Then the world went red and a tall man in a blue coat wrapped her up in a sheet, before he took out a knife and stabbed her. She said she couldn’t feel it but she’d always wake up crying.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“You wanted to know why I hurt her. Whenever she had those dreams I could feel something from her. It was in my head. It was like she was reaching in to find something to hold on to. I felt needed. It was warm. It was… Bliss. I couldn’t help it. I needed more. It was like a drug and I couldn’t quit. The stronger she got, the stronger the feeling. I could just lose myself in it. That’s why I planned everything the way I did. I needed to emulate that nightmare.”

Gwen felt bile rise in her throat. She didn’t want to listen to any more of this but maybe she’d be able to give Melody an answer to why all of this happened when she got back. 

“I needed her to be able to watch so I practiced the things she’d told me to keep psychics out of your head. Her eyes looked like silver and I just fell into them. Nothing I’d practiced worked. My thoughts just spilled out and I felt so empty. I couldn’t stop her from leaving.” 

“Why did you kill that woman? Why try to kill Jessica?” 

“That bitch tried to steal the stones from me after we spent the night together. I didn’t mean to kill her, she just wouldn’t let the fire stone go. Jessica… She just… I felt like she was trying to keep me away from Mel. I didn’t plan to kill her... Just hurt her. I needed her to stay out of the way while I found the necklace… If you’re Torchwood you would have just ended up torturing her worse than anything I could have done. Big organisations just want power and that’s what she has.”

“That’s enough! Just shut up!” She snapped, finally losing her temper. “We would never do that to someone! Especially not for something so petty!”

“It doesn’t matter what I say now. She’s gone… And it’s all my fault.”

After a swift handover Gwen returned to her car, slumping down in the drivers seat. She needed to clear her head. Cases where the humans were the ones in the wrong always hit her harder. The drive back to the hub was silent and felt like it took forever. Jack was waiting for her when she got back.

“How did it go?” He asked.

She sighed and lent against the side of her car. “The handover was easy. The trip … that was the hard part… She said pain made Melodys powers stronger so that’s what she was doing. Just to get a stronger psychic fix.”

“I’ve heard of things like that happening before.”

“If Mel had joined Torchwood would they have done the same to get her powers to a stronger level?”

He paused, frowning. “I hope they wouldn’t have, but I can’t be sure. They sometimes forgot who they were working with to reach their end goal. That’s why I wouldn’t let them take her.” 

“Are all telepaths powers linked to pain like that?”

“They can be. It’s like a defence mechanism. Their powers activate to protect them, and that can make them stronger.”

“Jack, after what happened to her on that ship, how strong is she?”

“Don’t let it change how you treat her.”

“Should she be living with a flatmate? All those people so close. They could get hooked just like Naomi did. I’m not saying lock her up, I just don’t want her to get hurt.” 

“Let me worry about that.” He smiled softly. “Owen’s on his way back with a new body. I thought it might be linked to this situation but from what he said when he got there it’s something different.”

“No rest for the wicked.” 


End file.
